Title

Expanding Soap

Broad Question

Can you whip air into melted down soap and re-harden it to make the same properties of ivory soap.

Specific Question

Can the properties of “ivory soap” be replicated in other soap brands to create the same effect in a microwave?

Hypothesis

It is Hypothesized that the properties of Ivory soap that cause it to expand in a microwave can be replicated by adding air to regular soap that has been melted and re-hardened.

Rationale: After seeing a website that showed how to expand soap, I thought I might try it. So after reading that Ivory soap can expand in a microwave and reading how Ivory soap was made, by wiping air to it, I wondered if I could do it with other soaps.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

The different brands of soap (Dial, Coast, Ivory)

Dependent Variable:

The volume of the soap (cm³)

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

- Weight of re-hardened soap (16.5 grams)
- Amount of Pop corn kernels (4 liters)
- Size of soap bars (12 cm³)
- Size of Glass Beakers (500 ml)
- Same Temp for re-hardening soap
- Same kind of soap (2 bars for each brand)
- Time of soap in microwave (35 seconds)
- Measurements method (With popcorn displacement)
- Same amount of canola oil
- Same amount of water
- Same heat sorce for melting

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

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General Plan

Potential Problems And Solutions

The greatest potential problem is getting burned from a burner and having to buy the soap. Best way to not get burned is to use oven mitts when handling the hot plate. Get [[#|coupons]] to lower the cost of soap.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

It is possible to get burns from the hot plate when using it. Also the glass beaker could possibly explode, so you would get hit by burning glass shards.

Experimental Design

It was tested to see if it’s possible to melt down soap and whip air into them, and see if it can make them expand in a microwave like Ivory soap does. First thing was is to melt down all the soap. Then pour the melted soap into five ice cube sized mini bars. After they have hardened, place them into the microwave and see if they will expand. Once that is done, use water displacement to measure the volume of each soap and see which is bigger.



Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Soap	2 Brands for each	Store	2.50
Ice cube trays	2	Store	1.50
Graduated Cylinder	1	Mr. Yahna	0.00
Hot Plate	1	Mr. Yahna	0.00
Glass Beaker	3	Mr. Yahna	0.00
Pop corn kernels	4 liters	Mr. Yahna	0.00

Detailed Procedure

1) Get three types of soap, all same weight (Dial, Coast and Ivory)
2) Get a beaker
3) Get a hot plate
4) Shave each brand of soap for easier melting
5) Turn on hot plate and place beaker on hot plate
6) Place soap shavings into beaker (Only one brand at a time for melting)
7) Place 2/3 cap of canola oil into beaker
8) Place 100 ml of water into beaker
9) Put dial on high but make sure not to burn it
10) Slowly stir over time while melting
11) Once almost completely melt, begin to stir faster ( this will make air bubbles in the soap)
12) Once done, pour melted soap into ice cube trays
13) When the soap has hardened, release cubes from ice trays and weigh and label each cube
14) Make sure you have at least five mini soap bars for each brand
15) Repeat steps 1-14 for each bar of soap
17) Locate microwave
18) Put one mini bar of soap in microwave and turn on high and set for two minutes, place it on a paper towel.
19) Once expanded, place expanded bar of soap into a large plastic overflow container which can hold up to four liters of pop corn kernels
20) Place four liters of pop corn kernels into the container which has the expanded soap in it, flatten it out as much as possible, then use a rules to scrape of the kernels until the kernels are even with the top of the container (make sure to have something under the container to catch the kernels)
21) Place all the kernels into a graduated cylinder
22) Record each measurement and total volume with using pop corn seed to measure the volume) on spreadsheet
23) Determine which soap brand is the largest (Volume)

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Data Table

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Data Analysis

Graphs

Photos

Ivory Soap Ready to expand

Finding volume of Ivory Soap.

Expanding Coast Soap in microwave

Results

The average size of the Ivory expanded in a microwave was 331 cm³. The average size of the Dial expanded in a microwave was 119 cm³. The average size of the Coast expanded in a microwave was 134 cm³. The Ivory expanded more than twice the volume of both the Dial and the Coast.

Conclusion

The experiment was designed to test if it is possible to melt down soap, whip air into it and see if it can expand in a microwave just like Ivory soap. The results showed that it is possible to recreate the effects of Ivory soap. The average size the Ivory soap expanded was 331 cm³. The average size the Dial soap expanded was 119 cm³. The average size the Coast soap expanded was 134 cm³. The Ivory soap expanded the most.

Discussion

In this experiment it was tested to see if the properties of Ivory soap could be replicated in other soaps. The results from the experiment did provide the answer. It was proven that the properties can not be replicated in other soaps. Although the Ivory soap expanded the most, other soaps did expand to a fair size. What happened was the other two soaps, Coast and Dial, expanded to the same size, or smaller compared to the Ivory soap, and then they collapsed. This was one of the odd things that happened during the experiment. Another odd thing that happened was the last few trials of soap had not expanded, but they had melted. It was guessed that happened because the soap had been left out in the dry air, so it dried up.
It was hypothesised that the Ivory soap was going to be larger than the Dial and Coast soaps. The hypothesis was correct, the Ivory on average expanded to 331 cm³. The Dial on average expanded to 119 cm³. The Coast on average expanded to 134 cm³. There wasn’t much similarity with the separate trials. Although trial 3 and 4 for Dial were almost the same. The size for trial 3 was 140 cm³. The size for trial 4 was 143 cm³. Other than that, there was almost no similarity with the trials.
The reason for Ivory soap expanding more is because when its manufactured it is whipped at a higher speed than Coast or Dial. This whipping of the soap incorporates air in the soap and makes it less dense. At first, the soap wouldn’t melt when the experiment started. Instead of using a hotplate and a beaker, the experiment was first tested in a double boiler. It would semi-melt but it would never fully melt. It would take a very long period of time for the soap to melt. Then it was tested with a microwave, that also didn’t work. Then it was tested with a hot plate and a glass beaker, this was the most successful method. 100 ml of water and 3/4 of a cap of canola oil was added and it would take around fifteen minutes to fully melt.
This information used in this experiment could help soap crafters in the future. Instead of making their regular soap, they could make different kinds. People would really enjoy in, and it is simple, all they need to do is melt down their regular soap base and mix the base faster. It’s simple and fun. This isn’t something that should be further tested, it’s just something fun to do when someone is bored or wants to make fancy soap they will know how.

Background Research

During this experiment it have found out many interesting facts. Some of these facts are: Soap melts at 92 degrees fahrenheit. The Average soap bar weighs 3 to 4 ounces. The dimension of a soap bar is usually 1 x 3 x 4 (12cm³). And temperature of boiling water is 100 degrees celsius or 212 degrees fahrenheit. The soap ingredients in the soaps were also looked up. For Ivory the ingredients are: sodium tallowate and/or sodium palmate, water, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, glycerin, sodium chloride, fragrance, one or more of the following: coconut acid, palm kernel acid, tallow acid or palm acid, and tetrasodium EDTA. For the Dial the ingredients are: Soap (Sodium Cocoate or Palm Kernelate, Sodium Palmate, Sodium Tallowate (Contains One or More of These Ingredients)), Water (Aqua), Talc, Coconut Acid, Palm Acid, Tallow Acid, Palm Kernel Acid (Contains One or More of These Ingredients), Glycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Sorbitol, Sodium Chloride, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891). For the Coast the ingredients are: Sodium cocoate, sodium palm kernelate, sodium palmate, sodium tallowate, water, talc. coconut acid, palm acid, tallpw acod, palm kernel acid, fragerence, glycerin, sorbitol, sodium chiloride, pentasodium pentetate and/ or tetrasodium, etidronate, titanium dioxide, ultramarines, chromium hydroxide green.

References

"Expanding Soap." Science Fair Project. N.p., 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
Jones, Scott A., SAJ. "How Much Does the Average Bar of Soap Weigh?" Questions & Answers. N.p., 2006. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
Jones, Scott A., SAJ. "What Temperature Does Soap Melt?" Questions & Answers. N.p., 2006. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
Karim, Jawed, Chad Hurley, and Steve Chen. "How To Make Melt and Pour Soap." YouTube. YouTube, 29 July 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
Kurnit, Scott. "What Temperature Does Water Boil?" About.com Chemistry. N.p., 21 Apr. 1997. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
Whitten, Chris. "How Big Is an Average Bar of Soap?" WikiAnswers. Answers, 2002. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
Yahoo. "Can Pieces of Bar Soap Be Melted down and Reformed?" - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers. Answers, 21 Mar. 2006. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
Yahoo. "Whats the Best Way to Melt Soap?" - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers. N.p., 21 Mar. 2006. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

Abstract

This experiment was designed to recreate the effects of air in Ivory soap in a microwave in other soaps. It was hypothesis that it would be possible to recreate the effects of Ivory soap. The experiment was conducted by melting down other soap and whipping air into them. When the soaps had hardened they were placed into a microwave and heated up. The other two soaps didn’t expand as much as the I Ivory, which on average expanded to 331 cm³. The Dial expanded to 119 cm³ on average, and the Coast expanded to on average 134 cm³. So the Ivory expanded more than twice the volume of both the Dial and Coast. It was proven that the effects of Ivory soap could not be replicated in other soap.